


The Hogwarts Express

by Goodnight_Burrito33



Series: Harry Potter and his Daemon [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-31 13:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10900320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goodnight_Burrito33/pseuds/Goodnight_Burrito33
Summary: Second in a Collection of One-shot/Drabbles set in the Daemon Alternate Universe :Harry and Nel's first ride on the Hogwarts Express!





	The Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading the first part of this series!! If you didn't, you should go do so! 
> 
> Unbetad again, so there may be mistakes. But this is written mostly for fun and out of love for these characters so i'm not too bothered haha. 
> 
> Thank you again for your support! 
> 
> (PS any characters in the Harry Potter don't belong to me, the Daemons however do)

Harry has never been on a train before, and Nel is sitting on his shoulder as a mouse, nervously cleaning her face. He’s clutching the handle of his trolley so tight his knuckles are beginning to go white, pushing it carefully through the crowds, his brand-new owl hooting quietly. He’s very lost, and his heart is pounding nervously against his chest. Harry wishes desperately for Hagrid to re-appear, but it’s in vain.  


Through the crowd of people, he hears a women’s voice, calling to her children; “Platform 9¾ this way, come on you lot” and his heart leaps as he steers his trolling towards her and her family. There’s a border collie tight on her heals, looking as stern as she is. The daemon nips at fox daemon as it leaps by.  


“Um, excuse me Ma’am” Harry coughs, and the women turns her attention away from her many children towards him. “I’m looking for the platform? 9¾?”  


“First time dear?” She says kindly, and Harry and Nel nod in unison. “It’s Ronny’s first year at Hogwarts as well,” she says and pulls one of the younger boys towards them. The boy Ron looks annoyed at the nickname but smiles at Harry anyways. If she thinks it strange that he’s on his own, she doesn’t let on and Harry is grateful that she doesn’t ask him where his parents are. Instead he is swept into the gang as they head for the platform.  


The kind women, guides Harry through the barrier, and even though she assured him it wasn’t solid, he feels Nel brace herself against his neck. Suddenly they are on a platform with a magnificent Red steam engine and Harry forgets to be nervous for a moment.  


He loses the others as he moves to get his luggage onto the train, and regrets it as he wonders down the length of the train looking for a seat. He finally finds a compartment that’s empty and he settles in, placing Hedwig on the seat next to him. Nel scampers off of his shoulder, transforming on the way into a weasel, so she can stand on his knee and stretch up to look out the window as the train begins to move. The train lurches, which makes his stomach flip, but he can feel Nel’s excitement, so he focuses on that instead.  


The sound of the compartment door opening makes him turn, and in the doorway is the red-headed boy from before. He smiles and gestures to the empty half seats. “Can we join you?” Harry nods enthusiastically and stands to help Ron push his trunk onto overhead compartment.  


Once they’re seated again, Ron holds out a hand and re-introduces himself, “I’m Ron Weasly, and this is Leal.” His daemon Leal, in the form of sparrow, is perched on the windowsill, watching the country side go by.  


“I’m Harry Potter, and she’s Nel.”  


Ron takes a sharp breath and inches forward in his seat. Leal flutters from her place at the window on to his shoulder. “So it’s true. I though Fred and George were just taking the piss. You’re actually Harry Potter. Like, boy who lived Harry Potter?” They look excited.  


“Uh, I guess,” Harry looks down at Nel and she shrugs as much as a weasel can shrug. Hagrid had told them about it briefly, but thinking about his parents as Murdered instead of just dead makes him feel ill.  


“Do you have the, you know…” he trails off and gestures vaguely to his forehead. Harry nods and lifts his hair up. Ron looks like he’s been shown quite possibly the coolest thing ever. “Blood hell!” Ron exclaims. “Friends with a famous bloke, blimey,” he mutters this last part, but it makes Harry smile. Not the famous thing, but the Friends part. Harry and Nel have never had a friend.  


Later, when they’re stuffing their faces with treats from the trolley, conversation turns to Daemon settling. Nel and Leal are shifting between various animals, and Harry asks Ron what he thinks Leal will settle as. He frowns, “Probably a dog. Whole family’s got dogs. Well, mum and dad, Charlie and Percy. The others have canines, like Fred and George – you saw them, they’ve got foxes. And my brother Bill has a wolf,” he looks wistfully out the window at the thought of having a daemon as cool as a wolf. “But I’ll probably get something like a poodle. Dogs are …” Ron says “dull” at the same time that Harry says “loyal” and it makes Ron smile.  


“What about you?” Ron asks through a mouth of pumpkin pastry. Harry makes to answers, but they’re interrupted by the door to their compartment opening. A girl with a mane of curly tangled hair, in her arms she holds her daemon, which is in the form of a squirrel, who’s tail matches her hair. It makes Harry want to laugh at how much they look alike.  


“Have either of you seen a toad? A boy named Neville’s lost one,” she asks briskly, all business. Harry and Ron glance at each other, laughter in their eyes and shake their heads no. “Well keep an eye out, he seems very upset…” she bites her lip lightly before continuing. “I’m Hermione, and this is Kenway,” Hermione introduces herself in the same brisk air, but Harry can tell she’s just as nervous as he had been when he first met Ron.  


“Harry Potter and Nel, Ron Wesley and Leal,” Harry says kindly. Ron seems to have lost his tongue, and his ears have gone pink.  


“Harry Potter? Really? I read about you!” She looks like she wants to say more, but decides against it “Well, nice to meet you… Well I should go look for that toad. You’d better change, I expect we’ll be there soon,” and with that she retreats from the compartment, sliding the door closed behind her.  


“She was nice,” Harry says and Ron’s blush deepens, so he doesn’t say anything more about Hermione. They change into their robes in silence, and finish up the rest of their candy. By the time the Train is pulling into the station Harry and Ron have their noses pressed against the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the castle. Nel is vibrating with excitement on his shoulder and Leal is fluttering from Ron’s shoulder to the top of his head ever few minutes. Nel clings to his collar as they depart the express and gather onto the platform  


“First years, follow me!” a voice booms over the din of excited students and Harry turns to see Hagrid, standing tall over everyone. Harry grabs a hold of Ron’s sleeve and tugs him towards the giant. As they get closer he can see Blair, Hagrid’s sandy coloured field-mouse daemon, poking out of his massive beard.  


“Hallo Harry!” Hagrid beams at him, and Blair’s noise twitches. “Who’s this? You another Weasley?”  


“I’m Ron,” he says with a slight waver in his voice as he looks up at the impressive sight that was Hagrid.  


“Nice ta meet ya,” Hagrid rumbles, and turns his attention to the rest of the gathered first year. “Come with me you lot,” and he leads the nervous group to the docks. Harry and Ron get into a boat with another boy who is holding a toad so tightly Harry is worried about it being able to breath. He assumes that this must be Neville, the one who lost a toad on the train. He wants to introduce himself, but the boat suddenly lurches away from the dock, so Harry turns his attention forward. He glances sideways at Ron and Leal, who is in Ron’s lap in the form of a beagle puppy. Her tail is wagging frantically, but Ron looks a little green.  


Nel is tugging at his ear, so he turns his head. “Look,” she whispers and points a small paw. Harry follows her direction and is greeted with a spectacular view of Hogwarts, lit up by what Harry can only assume is magic. “Home,” Nel says, and Harry agrees with her with his whole heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Daemons in this Fic: 
> 
> Harry - Nelvara (Nel). Unsettled  
> Ron - Leal. Unsettled  
> Hermione - Kenway. Unsettled  
> Hagrid - Blair. Field Mouse  
> Molly Weasley - unnamed. Boarder Collie  
> Both of the twins have fox daemons


End file.
